Abdul Razak Nuhu Fori, Architecture, Wa, Ghana

What inspired you to want a life in Architecture and the creative industries?

Growing up in a typical Northern-Ghanaian community where the walls were brown, the roofs were flat and the environment smelt natural. Houses were built in groups and the maturity of a man depended on his ability to carry a log of wood meant to serve as a beam in in a building. Beautiful songs were sung by the Women to encourage the men to work hard as they did themselves. These among others made me enthusiastic about the whole building process as a child which I have carried on as a profession. Not much resources were available to explore what I was interested in as I neither used a laptop nor a phone. So, I was advised to study Land and Real Estate management at the University for Development Studies where I learnt that the designers of buildings were Architects. I then reapplied to KNUST to study Architecture after a year in UDS. So, my inspiration to wanting a life in Architecture is the Culture and Sustainable living I witnessed as a child. As I witnessed growing up, my dream is to one day design a typical village with culture and sustainability as the main driving forces.

Who inspired you in finding your path to Architecture and the creative industries?

I will say that, my community inspired and lead me into this great profession but I truly found my path in Architecture after I watched Laure Baker’s documentary (Poor man’s Architect). His life well lived inspired me to follow the path of Sustainable and Regional Architecture for every sustainable design is a design for the people directly or indirectly.

How you unlock obstacles and overcome bias in your work?

I often engage and discuss obstacles with colleague professionals and senior members to get professional obstacles out of the way. I believe that there is no point in solving a problems that have already been solved rightly. So I mostly engage my Senior colleagues to know if they have ever had such an obstacle and the probable solutions. I mostly get problems solved that way as they have many years of experience.
Focusing on the task at hand and involving all stakeholders is what I try to do in my projects to ensure that there is good representation.

What improvements you feel are required to promote effective change in the academic and working environment?

I feel that Architecture and the creative arts should be introduced to students at the basic level. I never heard of Architecture untill I was ready to enroll in the university. If I did, I would not have wasted one-year of my life studying Land/ Real Estate. In my part of the world, basic architecture and arts education will help kids to discover and develop their creative skills early in life so that they do not waste much time like we did.